TheatreFirst says more to come on Henrietta Lacks

TheatreFirst Artistic Director Jon Tracy posted last week on Facebook that “HeLa,” which opens Monday, May 22, at Live Oak Theater, would be only the beginning of TheatreFirst’s exploration of the family of Henrietta Lacks, as a result of “some big discussions around the optics of ‘HeLa.’ ... We will go into development on a second piece about the Lacks family, a docu-play to premiere in the 18-19 season,” which will have “a creative team entirely built of black artists.”

“HeLa,” about doctors’ and scientists’ exploitation of a black woman and her family, has one black artist on its creative team, dramaturg Lisa Marie Rollins. Its director, Evren Odcikin, is Turkish American, and its two playwrights, Lauren Gunderson and Geetha Reddy, are white and Indian, respectively.

When Tracy took over as TheatreFirst artistic director last year, he reconstituted the company with bold internal mandates, among them that people of color constitute two-thirds of its board and its artistic hires.

Tracy said via email that this announcement isn’t meant as an apology for “HeLa” and its creative team. “So many questions came out of initial choices, and the questions just keep on coming as we are determined to look under every decision we’ve made and make. As we ready to open ‘HeLa,’ beautifully realized by a brilliant creative team, we’re already asking new questions. Front and center: What would happen if we dedicated ourselves to amplifying more perspectives on Henrietta Lacks and her family? What would another awesome creative team focus on?”